Saturday, December 31, 2011

Kasey Hill (Montverde Academy, FL), a 2013 point guard, ended his recruitment today with a commitment to the Florida Gators and Billy Donavan.

Hill sent out a tweet saying, "I am a GATOR!!!" while many reported he was on an unofficial visit to take in the Florida game against Yale.

It must've went well because it was enough to secure a commitment from one of the top guards in the country, regardless of class.

Hill held other offers from many schools around the country but had a top three of Florida, Louisville and Kentucky. The guard would have fit in either of the systems perfectly but elected to stay home and play for the legendary Billy Donavan.

Hill is the first commitment in the 2013 class for the Gators and certainly not the last.

Hill is one of the more explosive guards in his class that is deadly off his first step. With the success of guards coming through Florida, it will more than likely turn out to be a great fit for both parties.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Troy Williams (Phoebus, VA), a 2013 small forward, has whistled his list down to a manageable five schools. After picking up a North Carolina, it was destined for the Tar Heels to make his top five.

North Carolina, along with Kentucky, Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Villanova made his top five.

A surprise to some, Louisville was not mentioned as a school still in the mix. DePaul, Florida, South Florida, Alabama and Texas, to name a few, were some of the others that missed out on his top five.

Louisville received a visit and nothing indicated that it didn't go well. He is still taking in the Kentucky-Louisville game this New Years day, however.

Williams, a top 10 player by ESPN, has a college ready game and it's easy to see by the school's tracking him.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Mario Onoh is a unknown name in recruiting circles but not unknown in coaching circles.

Onoh, a 6-2 guard, from Jamaica Queens, New York, is now prepping at Hebron Academy in Maine before spending four years at Lewisville High School in Texas.

So far he's been a coaches best friend. He's a great student in the classroom that has a good GPA and also a good person off the court.

"I was TABC [Texas Association of Basketball Coaches] academic all-state last year," he said. He's continued that level of success in the classroom and that is why so many prestigious universities are give him a look right now.

He also recently visited Hartford last weekend and NJIT earlier this week.

This is what many athletes find attractive about prep school. Not only can you go up one class, but you can also have that extra time to develop your game. Onoh realized that and that was one of the many reasons why he chose to go prep.

"A lot of schools wanted me because I went prep," he said. "In Texas, I had a defensive role and I always guarded the other teams best player. I had to sacrifice a lot of my offense but I had no problem with that because we won a lot of games."

Playing in that role helped him out a lot. His energy dictates his game and once he gets energized, he a good defender. But since going prep, it's been more energy on both ends. Just this past week, Onoh was named Athlete of the Week in Maine after averaging 22 points and nine rebounds per game.

Duke, Kansas, UCLA, Kentucky, Arizona and UNLV are the school's he mentioned. But according to other reports, Muhammad's father also reiterating that USC still has a shot at landing the No. 1 overall player in high school basketball.

"I narrowed my list down to like six," Muhammad told FiveStarBasketball.com. "I think it was a good thing for me to narrow it down because a lot of schools were calling that I wasn't really interested in."

Each of the schools that are still in the mix are more than likely going to send a full out blitz to get the nations top ranked senior. There are rumors that Kentucky leads and UCLA is right there but Muhammad never confirms that.

He has committed to signing late and continuously said that he doesn't have any favorites.

Anton Gill to Louisville
Gill, a 2013 6-2 combo-guard, ended his recruitment with a verbal commitment to Louisville. Gill is the No. 43 player in his class according to Rivals.com and No. 48 according to ESPN.

Gill is a nice pickup for the 'Cards and should make an impact immediately. He's a great scorer from the backcourt but has the ability to play the one if he chooses. He gives the 'Cards a solid backcourt presence that they thought they were getting from Rodney Purvis before he decommitted and went on to NC State.

The Ravenscroft school guard pick Louisville over offers from Charlotte, East Carolina, North Carolina Greensboro, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest. He is the first commit in Louisville's 2013 class.

In two games at Oregon, Jabari Brown saw the starting lineup as well as getting around 25 minutes per game. He averaged just six points, two rebounds and 5.5 turnovers per game.

It was then when Brown decided to say no to the Ducks and transfer elsewhere.

There were rumors out there that Brown to San Diego State seemed like a sure thing but then some believed that the Aztecs denied his transfer.

Then came Missouri. Missouri already has an impressive list of newcomers, including Pepperdine transfer Keion Bell and Auburn's Ernest Ross. Adding another talented wing in Brown would be ideal for the Tigers. He visited last weekend but walked away uncommitted.

He then has another visit scheduled. This time with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets will welcome in a three-man class that features some of the top in-state talent and adding another guard to the backcourt with sharpshooter Chris Bolden could be what Brian Gregory is trying to do with Brown.

This is a great feeling for Kansas fans who haven't seen a class this talented since 2009, where they pulled in Xavier Henry, Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson, all four and five-star rated recruits by Rivals.com.

They'll definitely need the extra boost after losing both Tyshawn Taylor to graduation and possibly Thomas Robinson to the NBA draft following the season.